The Daiquiri

Last night David and I tried Daiquiris. Not the fluorescent frozen concoctions, but an original version. And we loved it.

One of my key sources for the drinks I am learning to mix this year is David Embury's classic book "The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks", first published in 1948. It's considered the Bible of cocktail mixing to most.

Embuy says there are six basic drinks, and I've completed them all now: the Martini, the Manhattan, the Old Fashioned, the Sidecar, the Jack Rose, and now the Daiquiri.

The Daiquiri was first made in 1905 in Santiago, Cuba at a bar named Venus by a group of American mining engineers. A U.S. Navy medical officer introduced it at the Army and Navy Club in Washington, D.C. in 1909. It became incredibly popular in the U.S. in the 1940's as wartime rationing made whiskey, vodka, and other spirits hard to come by. Through Rossevelt's Good Neighbor Policy with Latin America, Cuba, and the Caribbean, rum became readily available and more fashionable. Previously rum had been looked down on as a "sailor drink" or for those down-and-out. In later years, The Daiquiri was a favorite of Ernest Hemingway and John F. Kennedy.

A true Daiquiri is similar to what British sailors drank from the 1740s onward - Grog. However, Grog did not include ice or sweeteners, so the American mining engineers take full credit for the recipe.

David's Swizzle Stick Ratings:
Daiquiri - 5 Swizzle Sticks

The Daiquiri - 2 oz. white rum, juice of 1 medium lime, .5 oz sugar syrup.
Pour all ingredients into a shaker half-full with crushed ice. Shake vigorously and then pour all into a tall glass. Garnish with lime.

Rum, lime, and sweetener. What's not to love?